The scale went from $30 to $250 (she told New York Magazine Alice Cooper was worth $60 while Sylvester Stallone was $80), with $250 bonuses if pictures of the stars at Studio 54 made the papers. In fact, it was a free-for-all for stars and partygoers alike. And the people looked at each other and they said, Oh, its that kind of a place. At that moment, Rod Stewart walked in right behind Rollerena, in an orange suit with pink shoes. "(I'd) back off a little bit and feel the vibe, and then document things," he said. Rubell was the exact opposite. During this time, you can visit and enjoy the museum's. She became friends with Michael Jackson, wore $1,200 shoes, and took limos to the disco at midnight every night. Nothing sets the mood like dust and crochet shirts. But people who were in the main industries of New York, finance, fashion, entertainment, it was considered normal. It was kind of a celebration of people from the arts, dance, fashion, music, theater, entertainment, the gay world; this incredible mix of Manhattanites in the late 70s, before the AIDS epidemic basically wiped out at least half of the creative people in New York. But back in the day, she would dance nonstopfrom midnight to 5:00 a.m. many nights a week, taking only bathroom and cocaine breaks., As New York magazine reported at the time, A tiny, 77-year-old lawyer named Sally Lippman was mourning the death of her husband when she happened upon the disco scene and changed her life. This scene somehow did not make it into the movies 157-minute early press screening too bad, considering how well the setting would match Patrizias own preference for extravagance and luxury. As of 2016, Horowitz was still working with celebrities as Kevin Spacey's manager, a job she held for 28 years, until he fired her. Now, people used to tip us occasionally on the way out, and my tips often came in cocaine and quaaludes. He was hanging off the DJ booth. Once you were in, you could find yourself doing a million different jobs or getting a sudden and unexpected promotion. A German male model, Uva Harden, originally found the location and brought on an investor plus a woman named Carmen D'Alessio to handle the publicity. I tripped the light with Jackie O. I danced all night with Brooke and Bo. He was in black tie. Jones added, People would climb down from the building next door in full mountain-climbing geartrying to get into the courtyard., Doorman Marc Benecke told the BBC, At one point you could buy maps which claimed to show how to get in through tunnels up from the subway system. I brought these questions to Robert Bobby Sheridan, who worked the door at Studio 54, alongside Marc Benecke, from just after its opening to around the time of the bust, in 1979. It was a haven of illicit sex, illegal drug use, and the wildest parties the city had ever seen. We negotiated for a week or two and then one night, at 10 oclock, I put on my black velvet pants and my white Capezio jazz shoes and an old double-breasted dinner jacket. Since then, the photographer said, there's never been another club like it, though many have tried to recapture the spirit (including Rubell and Schrager, who opened the nightclub Palladium after their stints in jail). Steve Rubell, a co-owner of the club, reveled in mixing beautiful "nobodies" with the glamorous by hand-selecting guests from the crowds outside the . What does it feel like looking out at that crowd?Well, its overwhelming, but you feel safe because youve got a lot of security. Its much more adult. But they did it so professionally, and to the nines. Doorman Mark Benecke was charged with deciding on the chosen ones. Somehow, the pairing worked, and when Rubell died in 1989, Schrager said, "I'll never have that kind of friend again. The Products This Climate Journalist Uses to the Last Drop. (532) 7.0 1 h 38 min 2018 16+. The photographer that captured the disco and diamond dust of legendary club Studio 54, The photographic work of Dustin PIttman -- the focus of this feature -- is part of the exhibition 'Studio 54: Night Magic' at the Brooklyn Museum, which is temporarily closed. The Times said I was the socially most powerful person in New York. That sort of spectacle is what made Studio 54 intoxicating for partygoers. Confessions of a Studio 54 Doorman Illustration by Stefan Knecht In the three short years of Studio 54's heyday, Marc Benecke was who you had to get past to enjoy the hedonistic other side. Page Six was around, though! I can only wonder, as I ogle all the reproductions from my dumb little couch: Is this sufficiently swinging? Of course, we took him inside, gave him the royal treatment, made up for it a little bit. (This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.). Thats really what happened. Scott Bitterman, a former busboy and assistant manager,wrote on his blog that notorious attorney Roy Cohn and fashion designer Halston died from AIDS complications, as did the club's host Joe Renny, and even owner Steve Rubell, in 1989. Thered be a couple of Upper East Siders in black-tie, doing coke with a drag queen. It was an easy interview, it didnt go into too much depth, it probably lasted for half an hour and then he offered me the job. He was like a fairy godmother. It was like a hipster version of a Studio 54 doorman. Like Berlin's Berghain today, Studio 54 was very famous for its door policy, which was: fun-loving. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she basically created a new job when she mentioned to them she had a subscription to Celebrity Bulletin, which, in the days before the internet was how one found out where celebs were staying. . Learn more. Each EDITION property is completely unique, reflecting the best of the cultural and social milieu of its location and of the time. The prize: a paid trip to St. "Renny the florist decorated the entire studio with live gardenias for Liz, because that was her favorite flower," he wrote as a caption for one of the exhibition images . Women would dance, showing their breasts, and guys would wear assless chaps, right? At that point my band mate made a flavorful declaration and we decamped to the trusty, attitude free, IHOP where we enjoyed a drama free stack . I met a quarterback. Not everyone who worked at Studio 54 was just there to have a good time. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. Their uniform was apparently various stages of undress. It wasnt a barroom, it wasnt a discotheque, it was a cultural moment., Okay, yes, incredible how do I get in? How do Brits feel about King Charles? For a nightclub that only lasted a few years and closed more than four decades ago, the strength of Studio 54's sustained cultural influence astonishes me. This was like a different person. While celebs were always let in, anyone could make it past the velvet ropes if they were fabulous enough. It's no fun to be 53 at Studio 54. ", All the beautiful people dancing and doing drugs of course led to sex. I was a poli sci major in school, I wanted to become a lawyer. But, like so many creatives, he found such a traditional job confining and decided he had a better idea, which he presented to the club's owner after less than one shift. The club was even planned with that in mind. In any case, the owner taught him everything about how to get a great mix of people in Studio 54 every night. It was sex all over the place with various people, and it was full-tilt boogie: work, pleasure, cocaine. He asked what I was doing for the summer and was like, How would you like to work here? And Im like, Okay. Thats basically how it started! ", What makes a man? People would come from out of town to come to the club, and it just wasnt necessarily a good fit. However, the notorious New York City nightclub encountered a fair share of obstacles while party-goers ravaged the dance floor . The music scene was different81 was that New Wave, New Romanticism era of music, groups like ABC and A-Ha and punk by that time as well. It was the last breath and last hurrah before the AIDS epidemic. '", Instead of informing this nobody that there were a million young, attractive men in New York City who would kill for his job, Rubell decided this was a great idea. Until they didn't. He was able to turn people away with a smile. What made the atmosphere special, the photographer said, was the co-mingling of people from all walks of life. Instead of doing a Red Bull they would do a line. It was of the times, of that moment. He had this drag queen muse. The photographer that captured the disco and diamond dust of legendary club Studio 54. Haoui Montaug went out in the most Haoui Montaug way possible: by throwing a suicide party. And the doorman/bouncer at those clubs Studio 54 especially was, for a time anyway, a man named Haoui Montaug. Watch on. She was a retired Jewish lawyer who became a judge and suddenly went crazy due to the combination of cocaine and the Studio 54 Effect. You\'ll receive the next newsletter in your inbox. Steve Steckel - head of security. However, once HIV exploded, it did so with a vengeance. Michael Overington was another example of how far you could go at Studio 54. For 33 short months the club was the height of cool in Manhattan, with club goers who managed to get past the velvet rope falling into a deluge of drugs and debauchery. Miestorm, who got the nickname "Lenny 54," got the best job in the world a paid partygoer. They are provided in a historical context. Anything Went. Studio 54 defined clubbing, disco, and celebrity in the late 1970s. People felt like the key to happiness was maybe not getting married, but maybe having multiple partners. How the Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers Gets It Done. Enter the coat check girls. Andy Warhol was one of the few well-known artists in the world [that came to Studio 54]. Scott Bitterman started bussing tables, but that wasn't where he stopped. How did you get involved at such a young age? Ad Choices, Donald Trump Still Collects Six-Figure Pension from SAG-AFTRA: Report. Mark Fleischman, former owner of the legendary space, has chosen to end his life after an eight-year battle with an undiagnosable neurological disease. He was all of 19-years-old. It was a joyous prelude to the AIDS epidemic, which reared its head in the early 1980s, before claiming around 50,000 American lives a year during its peak in the mid-1980s, and fundamentally changing New York nightlife. What Halstons been most upset about in the Studio 54 bust is that the IRS agents discovered another little room that nobody knew about, and Halston is hurt because hes such a close friend and Steve hadnt told him about it., After Jen Shahs Arrest, How Can We Keep Enjoying Real Housewives? Barry Jenkins on Bringing The Underground Railroad to TV How Swimming With Sharks Tried to Warn Us About Scott Rudin Quil Lemonss 2021 Vanity Fair Oscar Portraits Andrew McCarthy on Pretty in Pink and the Brat Pack The 2021 Oscar Ceremony Was a Noble, Doomed Experiment Elliot Page Finally Feels Able to Just Exist From the Archive: The Unsinkable Jennifer Aniston. For the first time since he and his business partner (Rubell) were forced to sell the discoteque in 1980, former co-owner Ian Schrager . Studio was a reflection of all of that.. You walked in and you were hit with this wall of sound, and youd look out there and thered be Diana Ross dancing to her own song. Did people try to bribe you to get in?Yeah, sure, people offered money, but you would never accept that, because if you did, then theyd show up the next night with all of their friends, everybody whod been in their wedding. There he met one of Warhol's inner circle of "superstars," the actress known as Ingrid Superstar, and she took him downtown to the Factory to meet the famed Pop artist. All rights reserved. Vote up the Studio 54 snapshots that make you want to queue up and bribe a doorman. I went down to 54 to meet with Steve. Even R. Scott Bromley, the architect who designed the indoor space, did the hard work actually hammering it all together. Kyle Richards, 54, explains HOW she stays so skinny after denying she uses weight loss drug Ozempic: '1 hour of alternating between walking at 3.5mph and running at 6mph' Teen spirit! His position as the gatekeeper made him socially the most powerful man in the city, according to no less an authority than The New York Times. It still is," Schrager told "CBS This Morning: Saturday" co-host Anthony Mason. The photographer credits this to the late Rubell, who died in 1989, and Schrager. Locals have targeted former TOWIE star Elliot Wright's Spanish restaurant with graffiti calling him a 'killer' less than two days after his doorman was killed while trying to break up a fight at . You see, Studio 54 wasn't just a place where illegal sex and drugs happened. But people stayed out til 4:00 in the morning and then they went to their job. People were really tired of war and people just wanted to have a good time, and we did. Reinaldo Herrera, who was there with Carolina, says, It was rather moving. No Big Apple nightlife venue of the last half of the 20th century ever made as big a splash on the popular culture as Studio 54, which opened 40 years ago this week. Anything went, as long as no one got hurt. Steve introduced me to Andy Warhol, and Andy wouldnt let go of my hand. Jim McMullen, hed come down three or four nights a week with about 20 people from the restaurant. It had to be later than 1976 because Studio 54 didn't open until 1977. Pro- and anti-Jordan protesters clashed with police trying to keep them out of the hearing room, while the chairman knocked Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's crime policies. This crowd is made up of well-known, successful individuals: Fashion designer Halston and actress Bianca Jagger are on the left, followed by film director Jack Haley Jr. and actress Liza Minnelli in the back right. And the people who worked there. Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission. He used to hide his costumes in different nooks and crannies in the city because there was no way he could changeespecially in those daysfrom his job on Wall Street. We became very good friends. He could have been so generous and spending so much, and he just wasnt. Shortly before Studio 54 opened, Joanne Horowitz met owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager at their other club, Enchanted Gardens. One year, we spent $50,000 transforming the main entrance hall into a haunted mansion that included live monsters jumping out at our guests as they made their way across rickety bridges through a graveyard, while howling and other very strange loud noises played in the background. Describing one party, former model Kevin Haley told Vanity Fair in 1996, As you came up the ramp in the foyer, you looked through little windows into little booths with midgets doing things. I mean, we had major stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Mick Jagger. It just wasnt gonna work. "It's always in the air. We'd watch from the windows on the eighth floor to see who was cute and ask them to come up, like a teenage Studio 54 doorman situation. But I think people were happy. ]I kept Barry Gibb waiting for half an hour. People got off on that. Terms of Service apply. Hed show up with Cheryl Tiegs and Christie Brinkley, and all the models of the day, and I let them all in for free. If Pittman was taking a portrait, he liked to make it more collaborative, capturing the whole of their personality in a single shot. It was really different. And not everybody had an entourage. The bartenders at Studio 54 were meant to be eye candy as much as employees there to serve drinks. Rubell had the waiters dressed up like Pilgrims and he was serving turkey, recalled Warhol in his published diaries. Its really just about personality, Ive always been very outgoing. Montaug also ran the roving cabaret revue No Entiendes which showcased among others a young Madonna and early performances by the Beastie Boys. Studio 54 has gone down in history as the ultimate nightclub, a place where everyone who was anyone went to get down, boogie, and be seen. Benecke wanted to be a lawyer, according to the Edition Broadsheet. It's almost like asking the cast of a major show like A Chorus Line, 'Well, did you guys really go out and party all the time?' ), Hey, he said after my stunned pause, you asked., Nothing could shock me anymore, added Gaines, whose book Simply Halston is the basis for Netflixs limited series starring Ewan McGregor as the late fashion designer.